Beer Glossary

Related terms used in Beer, the making of Beer and drinking Beer.

Alcohol
An intoxicating by-product of fermentation, which is caused by yeast acting on the sugars in the malt. Alcohol content is expressed as a percentage of volume or weight.

Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
The measure of the amount of space the alcohol in a beer takes up as a percentage of total volume. This is the worldwide standard for measuring the alcohol content in beer.

Ale
True ales are fermented with top-fermenting yeast. They are low in carbonation and served warm. Best known in England.

All-Malt
All-malt refers to a beer made exclusively from barley malt without adjuncts.

Aroma
The combination of smells from malt, hops, yeast, and any distinctive disturbances in the beer.

Beer
A fermented beverage made from barley, hops, water, and yeast.

Beer Styles
The major beer styles are lagers, ales, and specialty beers. Specialty beers are brewed with various non-standard ingredients.

Bitter
One of the British ales almost exclusively served on draft in English pubs.

Bock
German-styled beer with a strong alcoholic content. Dopplebock has yet a higher alcoholic content (6% or more) and Eisbock (made with a freezing process) can have an alcoholic content equivalent to wine.

Dextrins
Non (or slowly) fermentable carbohydrates found in the malt. They give beer flavor, body, and mouthfeel.

Esters
Esters are organic compounds that result from the interaction of acids and alcohol. The presence of esters can cause the fruity flavors and aromas, such as banana, blueberry, and pear, that intentionally or unintentionally occur in some beers.

Fermentation
This is the process of producing alcohol and carbon dioxide through the actions of yeast on grain-based sugars.

Filtering
The process of passing beer through a porous substance to clarify it. This process occurs after fermentation.

Head
Foam that forms on top of the beer when it is poured. Head tends to indicate the degree of carbonation, hops, and malt in the beer.

Hops
One of the four principal ingredients of beer, hops are flower cones added to beer as a bittering agent, a preservative, and an aromatic.

Lager
From the German word to store, lagers represent a major family of beers. They have a longer and cooler fermentation period than ales, and are brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast. Most beers from German and North American are lagers.

Lambic
Fermented wheat beers from Belgium. The yeast is not manually added, instead, it is allowed to drift in from the surrounding countryside.

Light Beer
Low-calorie beers that also usually have a low-alcohol content. Sometimes light beer is produced by simply watering a full-calorie or full-alcohol beer.

Malted Barley
The basis of the beer. Malted barley is created by germinating barley for optimum starch content and enzyme development, then drying it quickly. This provides starches that convert to sugars, which then ferment into Alcohol and CO2.

Pale Ale
Light-colored ales that are usually full-bodied and definately on the bitter side.

Pilsner
Also a type of lager beer, first made in Czechoslovakia in the late 13th century.

Stout
A fuller-bodied, richer, and sweeter version of porter. English/Irish in origin.

Yeast
Living plant microorganisms that convert sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide.